A Time For Family
by Rhianwen
Summary: Once upon a Tim, there was an Elli, and all was well with the world. A seasonal tale of friends, family, and the warm fuzzy feeling you get inside after your twelfth Christmas Eggnog.


A Time For Family

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Summary: Holiday fluff in which Elli has a special surprise for her brand new sparkly husband. Doctor x Elli sappiness, guest starring Ellen, Stu, and Carter.

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Once upon a Tim, there was an Elli.

This was not at all an isolated incident; ever since their wedding some three months ago, the young couple had been known to arrive in this position four or five times a day, utilizing any flat surface that might provide itself.

Today, they had actually managed to make it up to the bedroom, and once there to the bed, which Tim considered quite a victory, what with his wife materializing in front of his desk at four o' clock _on the button_, wearing a grin that was pure mischeif, and proceeding to sieze him by...ah, Li'l Timmy and drag him upstairs.

The two had shed nearly all their clothes on the way to the bedroom, thus leaving something of a trail back to the desk, which Tim considered a remarkable show of foresight on their part. After all, there was always the chance that Elli would want to relocate back down there next, and now they would be able to find their way easily. Hadn't she just confessed blushingly the other week that seeing him all _professional_ made her want to do naughty married things?

Tim had always – or at least, for the past three months – been a great supporter of naughty married things.

It seemed, however, that all things naughty and married would have to wait until a more opportune moment. Elli, who had just peeked through her dissheveled hair at the clock, was now scrambling off of him and babbling watered-down curses, all traces of her blissful, langorous stupor evaporated in the heat of the glowing red digital 5_:04._

"Tim, hurry up!" she implored, tugging at his arm. "We were supposed to be at Grandma's five minutes ago, and we still have to get dressed, and gather up all the presents, and I haven't iced the cake or warmed the sweet potatoes yet!"

He sighed, climbing reluctantly off of the bed and leaving behind appealing thoughts of desktop goings-on. As his wife darted past for the third time in ten seconds, he caught her by the arm.

"Calm down, Elli. You'll only slow yourself down if you panic and try to do everything at once."

She glared heatedly.

"Then how do _you_ suggest we get everything done and get to Grandma's five minutes ago?"

"I don't," he explained patiently, dragging on articles of clothing as Elli produced and tossed them at him. "We're already late, so let's just get everything finished one at a time, so we don't make ourselves later than we have to be."

"Okay, okay. You're right," she admitted, pouting slightly. "Why don't you finish getting dressed, and I'll gather everything together?"

"Or we could both finish getting dressed and gather up the food, because Stu was here earlier for the presents."

Elli stared at her husband for a moment, startled, then laughed.

"Oh, he was, was he?" She shook her head in fond annoyance, nudging aside the tiny voice demanding sternly if Stu had remembered to take _all_ the presents. "I guess I should be glad that I haven't managed to teach him that there are more important things to Christmas than the presents – I really doubt we could carry everything between the two of us, and I don't want to make another trip."

Tim chuckled, turning obediently as his wife tugged him around and fastened his tie in a few lightning-quick motions.

"Never try to tell a ten-year old boy that _anything_ is more important than presents. You'll only waste your time."

Fastening her long, full skirt of cherry-red velvet at the back, Elli cocked an eyebrow at her husband.

"And what makes you say that?"

"I was ten years old once. And being that I'm currently a man, it follows that I would have been a boy at the time."

A grin stretched over Elli's pretty, lightly made-up face.

"I'm afraid I'll have to confirm that for myself, Dr. Cuthbert."

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Approximately twenty-five minutes later, Carter looked up at the brisk knock on the front door, hurried to answer, and jumped slightly as he found himself engulfed in half a hug.

"Hi, Carter!" Elli greeted cheerfully, pulling back quickly as the cake and cookies began to slip. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Elli," he smiled, regaining his customarily serene expression in time with his robes falling neatly back into place. He turned to the doctor, intending a firm handshake and promptly changing his mind at the profusion of towel-covered bowls and casserole dishes tucked into his friends arms. "Merry Christmas, Tim. Let me give you a hand with some of those."

"Thank-you, Carter," Tim said gratefully, relaxing visibly as the sweet potatoes, which had been slipping by centimeters the entire way over, were rescued from certain disaster. "Merry Christmas."

"I'm really glad you decided to come for dinner this year," Elli called happily from the counter, where she was already elbow-deep in the thick whipped cream icing that she had neglected to dress the cake with at home, due to last-minute distractions.

Depositing the rest of his mouth-watering burdens on the scant free counter space, Tim pushed his wife's sleeves up a little farther as the delicate lacy white cuffs began to dip into the cream despite being already rolled up. Twisting in his arms, she dropped a light kiss at his jawline.

"Mulled wine, Elli?" Carter asked, ladle in hand, lifting the lid from a fragrant, spicy concoction bubbling on the stove.

Elli wrinkled her nose, while Tim's eyes lit up.

"No, thanks," she replied. "I'll mix the fruit punch as soon as I'm done with this."

"I'll take a mug, as long as you're pouring," Tim said hastily. One of his first and fondest memories of Mineral Town had been his first taste of Ellen's legendarily sublime mulled wine, which appeared on the kindly old lady's stove once a year.

"Grandma!" Stu, who had wandered out to the kitchen to investigate the sudden commotion where there had previously been only Carter waiting by the wine pot, called back to the elderly woman in the rocking chair by the living room window. "Elli and the doctor are here!" His eyes roved, sparkling with joy, over the profusion of goodies. "And they robbed a bakery on their way!"

"We did _not _rob a bakery," Elli huffed playfully, shoving the tin of Stu's very favourite chocolate-dipped shortbreads into his arms. "I made every single one of those cookies myself."

Stu, who had proceeded with his close investigation of the shorbreads the second they were in his possession, froze in mid-chomp.

"_You_ made them?" He peered worriedly at his cookie, before replacing it in the tin.

Whisking the tin away and removing the half-eaten cookie, Elli beamed before swooping down on the dark-haired boy and giving him a tight hug.

"I love you too, Stuie."

"Elli!" Stu howled indignantly, squirming frantically as his sister continued to nuzzle his smooth dark head – still sore from the fierce combing Grandma had given it earlier – affectionately.

She looked up innocently.

"What? Every big sister deserves some Christmas hugs from her darling little baby brother!"

"I'm not _darling_, and I'm not _baby_," Stu huffed, storming back to his Christmas-themed comic book, pausing only to snatch up his partially eaten cookie and three more for the road.

Elli sighed happily, watching the retreating boy with a fond smile.

"They're so _cute_ when everything makes them mad."

"Ah, the double-edged sword of a big sister's love," Carter observed, shaking his head and following Elli as she bustled into the living room after her brother.

Tim, who had been watching the entire cycle of torment and outrage with a generous mug of mulled wine in hand, chuckled. It was hard to say whether the warmth spreading through him was thanks to the wine or to his wife's endearing bratty streak, but whatever it was, it was nice.

"Merry Christmas, Grandma!" Elli was meanwhile greeting, stooping to give Ellen a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. "Sorry we were late – something came up."

Behind her, Tim choked slightly on a sip of wine.

Ellen laughed.

"Oh, you honeymooners! Never mind, dear, you made it eventually. Now, why don't you get everything laid out, and then we'll eat? The turkey is in the oven, and the potatoes need to be mashed, but the carrots and peas are ready, and the cranberries and gravy are in the fridge."

"Grandma, you weren't supposed to be on your feet too much!" Elli exclaimed worriedly. "Tim said not to strain yourself."

"Oh, I didn't," Ellen assured her with a serene smile. "Carter may have, though."

"I've never stuffed a turkey before – it was an enlightening experience," Carter announced, sipping at his drink.

"I had to peel all the potatoes," Stu announced sulkily.

Elli wrapped one arm around her brother and squeezed.

"And I'm sure they'll be delicious. Now, come help me make the punch, sweetie."

"But I'm reading!" Stu wailed.

Elli peeked at the front of his comic.

"Mechabot Ultror versus Evil Santa," she read, before fixing him with a stern eye. "Tim, didn't we put that in his stocking last year?"

"I seem to recall something like that," Tim agreed, hiding a smile.

"So do I," Carter added, not at all hiding his. "As I recall, May was less than impressed with the villification of Santa Claus."

"May just doesn't _get_ Mechabot," Stu pouted.

"Stu," Elli said sternly.

His pout deepening, he tossed down his comic and climbed to his feet.

"Okay, fine. But I get another cookie!"

"I thought you didn't trust them," she said mildly.

"I guess they're not so bad after all," he grinned, yelping with joy as she bonked him lightly on the head with the tin and then held it out to him.

"Only one," she said, pulling the tin away slightly. "We have turkey in a minute."

Stu eyed her skeptically as she donned oven mitts and pulled the roasting pan from the oven.

"Grandma and Carter made it, right? You're just getting it now?"

She laughed, glaring playfully over her shoulder.

"Keep it up, and you'll get a kiss next time. In _public_. Now, run and tell Carter and Tim that we need one of them to carve the turkey."

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"Alright, what have we got?"

Stu watched, bewildered, as his brother-in-law strode up to the kitchen counter, snapping on a pair of latex gloves and positioning a white mask over his mouth and nose as he went.

"A roasting victim," Elli replied in a hushed voice further muffled by a mask of her own. She made one final adjustment to the array of cutlery lined up on a napkin next to the platter, and then ducked quickly out of Tim's way. "What do you think?"

The doctor shook his head.

"It doesn't look good. But where there's life, there's hope. Now, let's get startled. Carving fork."

With practiced swiftness and precision, Elli picked up the necessary item and handed it to him.

After eyeing the turkey for a long moment, Tim finally pushed the fork into the joint between leg and body, and applied a steady, even pressure.

"Knife."

Elli handed him the knife. He rested the blade lightly against the meat, and then began to cut. The onlookers held their breath.

"Forceps," he said without looking up.

"We don't have any forceps, Doctor," Elli admitted.

He swore softly, much to the delight of a snickering Stu in the background.

"Then get a fork, and hold the incision open." He caught her hand, likewise gloved, and positioned the fork. "Here."

Carefully settling the knife next to her fork, he applied a gentle pressure. Together, they lifted the first moist, tender slice of turkey away from the bird.

"Sponge."

Elli dabbed at the doctor's forehead with the corner of her skirt.

"We don't have a sponge either," she explained when he looked at her oddly.

Another slice of turkey found its way onto the surrounding edges of the platter, and another, and another.

Finally, Tim set down the knife and carving fork, and turned to the onlookers.

"I'm afraid the patient isn't going to make it," he announced gravely, pulling off his gloves and mask. "Let's eat."

"Would you like me to give it last rites?" Carter asked solemnly.

"I beg your pardon!" Ellen exclaimed in playful outrage.

Stu shook his head.

"You guys are so weird."

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Approximately an hour and twenty pounds of turkey dinner later saw a much more subdued crowd returning to the living room of the little mountain cottage.

With one notable exception.

"Is it time to open presents yet?" Stu demanded, nearly vibrating with excitement, but suffering just enough for his four pieces of pecan pie that bouncing was out of the question.

"Oh, Stu, give dinner time to settle!" Elli implored, tucking an afghan snugly around Ellen's legs and flopping unceremoniously onto the couch next to Tim, who promptly tipped sideways to rest on her shoulder. She sighed in mock-disapproval, poking him gently. "I _knew_ you'd had too much."

"Too much turkey," he mumbled into the curve of her neck. "The tryptophan makes you sleepy. Nothing to do with the wine."

"Ask him if tryptophan induces urges to operate on the Christmas turkey," Carter suggested pleasantly, biting back a tremendous yawn.

"Is dinner settled yet?" Stu asked, his own subtle reminder that he was still both present and desiring of presents.

"That was almost twelve seconds," Tim commented to Elli's shoulder.

Elli made a little noise of indecision. It was a lot harder to teach her little brother patience, and that he would _not_ be able to expect to get everything he wanted in life the moment he wanted it, when she herself had been fighting tummy-butterflies in anticipation of present time. For...special reasons.

"Grandma?" she asked. "Is it okay if we open gifts now?"

Ellen laughed, exchanging a conspiratorial look with her granddaughter.

"It's fine with me, if Tim and Carter don't mind."

"I have no objections," said Carter, who had spied amongst the pile more than one brightly wrapped box made out to him.

"Tim?" Elli prodded, delivering another soft poke.

Tim bolted upright.

"What? I'm awake."

"Can we open presents now?" Stu reiterated with huge, pleading eyes.

"Well...you should probably ask your sister instead of me," the doctor replied, casting a nervous look at the girl in question.

"Doct_errrrrrrrr_!" Stu whined.

Elli patted his head.

"Don't worry, honey, he's only teasing. Yes, we can open presents now."

With a delighted squeal that he would deny to his dying days, Stu leapt from the floor and bolted to the stack of gifts.

And a scene of abundant carnage and shredded ribbon followed.

When, at length, the dust and wrapping paper settled, it was upon four very happy individuals, and a very frantic one.

"Grandma!" Elli exclaimed in a whisper, scurrying over from the tree. "Tim's special gift is missing!"

Ellen, engrossed in her brand new manual of advanced knitting patterns, looked up abruptly.

"Are you sure?"

"It's the only one we haven't opened," Elli replied miserably. "It should be there. It was with all the others."

"Why don't you go have another look?" Ellen suggested, frowning worriedly. "Stu," she called to the young man currently attempting to fit together his model racing track on the living room carpet. "Why don't you ask the doctor to help you do that upstairs in your room?"

Stu, who had reached his wits-end after five excruciating minutes, brightened.

"Okay. Doctor? Can you help me put my racing track together?"

A rather strange apparition resembling the doctor with a black fleece bathrobe over his suit and tie, climbed from the couch.

"All right. Let's go."

Once they had disappeared upstairs, Elli raced back over to the tree, followed quickly by Carter, who had just noticed the commotion through the delight of Ellen's gift, a wine conniseur's kit.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Elli sighed sadly, looking up from another unsuccessful search. "I just had one more present for Tim, and I don't know where it is. But it's probably just as well – it was kind of silly."

Ellen shot her granddaughter a stern look.

"It isn't silly, sweetheart. I think it's a lovely idea. We'll just have to keep looking."

Elli's despondent expression turned pleading.

"But Grandma, he'll find out anyway. He's giving me a check-up in the next few days."

"Elli, your love life is hardly the issue here. You worked hard on this."

"Hold on," interjected Carter, who had been staring thoughtfully at a trail of tiny footprints leading from the doorway to back around behind the Christmas tree. "I think I may have solved your mystery..."

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"It's Carter, budum!"

"Carter!"

"Yaay! Carter is here!"

"Did you bring me a treat, budum?"

"Are you here to play with me?"

"You came for tea, right?"

"Carter is—ACK!"

Joyful exclamations issued forth from the colour-coded circle ranged about the inside of the tiny cottage, concluding with the last, from a tiny green-hatted fellow, which melted quickly into a terrified little shriek when he noticed the unfamiliar brunette lurking behind his friend.

"Hello, everyone," Carter greeted with a pleasant smile. "Merry Christmas."

"What's up, budum?" Bold asked.

"Well, Elli here has lost something important," Carter replied, "and we were wondering if you had seen it. Elli? Would you like to describe the item?"

"Um, okay," she agreed shyly. "It's a small box, about this big—" She indicated something about the size of jewelry box. "—and inside is a pair of knitted baby mittens."

Carter's face lit up.

"Oh, I get it! Congratulations, Elli!"

"Thanks," she murmured, blushing brightly.

Six of the seven tiny folks gathered in a circle, consulting in a worried hush, while the seventh, Timid, simply continued to stare at Elli with huge, terrified eyes, praying that his hat might magically sprout another foot and swallow him whole.

"Do you think she means _our_ present?" Aqua whispered to his brothers.

"No, she can't mean _that_," Hoggy insisted. "That's _ours_!"

"But it sounds the same," Staid pointed out.

"We should ask her," Chef agreed.

"Bold, you do it – I'm sleepy," Nappy said, nudging his brother back towards the bewildered girl.

"Okay, I'll do it," Bold agreed.

There was a brief scrabble as the coveted article came out of Hoggy's pocket and into Bold's hands.

"Is this what you're looking for, budum?" the little purple-clad fellow asked, holding up a tiny pair of soft woollen mittens in a fetching profusion of blues, greens, and yellows.

Elli gave a yelp of joy.

"Yes, that's them!"

Six faces fell in unision. Carter frowned.

"What is it?"

Exchanging looks with the others, Aqua spoke up.

"Well, we thought they were for us," he admitted. "They're just our size. See?" He illustrated by slipping on one of the mittens, which indeed were a perfect fit.

"Not for _us,_" Bold objected. "She made them for _me_!"

"No, she made them for me!" Hoggy said. "They have yellow in them!"

"They have blue in them, too," Staid pointed out. "I think she meant them for me."

"When you mix a little bit of yellow with a lot of blue, you get aqua," said the little fellow of the same name. "Clearly, they were meant for me."

"You're all wrong!" declared Chef. "They're obviously oven mitts, and since I'm the only one who ever cooks around here—"

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but I actually made them for my husband," Elli admitted.

"May we have them back now, please?" Carter asked gently.

The six not huddling, terrified, in a corner exchanged looks again.

"But we _like_ them," Bold said, crestfallen. "They're nice and warm, and Claire has been asking us to feed her animals all winter, and she doesn't even have a heated barn!"

Elli bit her lip.

"If—if I promise to make everyone a pair later, can I have those ones back now?"

Another exchange of glances.

"I don't know," Hoggy said, very seriously. "By the time they're finished, we won't need them anymore."

"Of course you will!" Elli wailed, frustrated. "It's going to be cold again next winter, too, and unless Claire gets over her fear of cows – or makes Rick do it for her – she'll be asking for your help again!"

A long silence.

"That _is_ a good point," Staid finally told his brothers in a whisper.

After another brief conversation, Bold held out the tiny mittens to Elli.

"Okay, we'll give them back. But when you're making mine, remember that I like purple!"

"And I like yellow!"

"And I like orange!"

"And I like--"

"I think your preferences are fairly intuitive," Carter said hastily, retrieving the mittens and pulling Elli towards the door.

As it clicked softly shut behind them, Timid looked up.

"Um...why did that girl take my mittens away?"

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"Elli?" Tim said quietly, the beginnings of a grin tugging at his mouth as he lifted the tiny mittens out of a nest of tissue paper. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Yes, Tim," she whispered, gazing deeply into his eyes. "I'm leaving you for a midget with poor circulation. I—I just didn't know how else to tell you."

His half-grin froze for a few seconds, then fell away entirely, replaced by a stern expression as Ellen and Carter groaned at the utter destruction of a potentially lovely moment, and Stu howled with laughter in the background.

"Elli."

"Okay, okay, there's no midget," she pouted playfully. She peeked up at him shyly. "I'm not _completely_ sure yet, but it's been two months since my last cycle, and all the home tests came up positive."

"_All_ the home tests?" Tim repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

She blushed.

"I did seven. Karen helped me. What?" she demanded as he stared incredulously. "I wanted to be as sure as possible before I got your hopes up!"

"Congratulations, Papa," Carter grinned.

"Make sure my granddaughter takes good care of my _great_-granddaughter, doctor," Ellen ordered, chuckling. "Keep her off her feet, and make certain that she gets lots of rest."

Tim rose abruptly from the couch, his grin back in full force.

"Well, alright, then." In one swift movement, he pulled Elli to her feet, swung her around in front of him, and lifted her, bridal-style, off the ground, entirely ignoring her horrified, delighted shriek of half-protest. "I'd better get her home, to bed."

The remaining three in the room watched, startled and incredulous, as the doctor and his growing family departed.

"Oh, my," Carter finally managed, reflecting that at least his friend had taken the news well, even if he himself wasn't particularly fond of the mental images that the exact reaction had spawned.

"Mmmhmm," Ellen agreed, smiling dreamily at the memory of another man's reaction, long ago, to her own news of impending baby.

Stu shook his head, horrified.

"They didn't put their coats on before they left!"

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End Notes: Okay, so the ending is incredibly awkward. But I did manage to combine holiday fluff and babyfic into one terrifying and ultra-fluffy whole, so maybe my readers' teeth will be too rotted by now to notice. XD


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